Research & Comparative Synthesis. Topic: Poverty Across Cultures
Essay 3: Research & Comparative Synthesis. Topic: Poverty Across Cultures. 1500 words minimum (5-7 pages).
Background: George Orwell’s Down and Out in Paris and London depicts poverty from a very specific cultural and historical perspective—1930s Europe. He explores both low-wage work and homelessness in an environment of sharp social divisions; in countries that would soon be hurtling towards world war; within societies that had scant safety nets for the poor and virtually no protection for workers; at a time when science, medicine, and technology were far less advanced than they are today. Together in class, we will be reading Orwell’s narrative closely to discover everything we can about poverty in his time. In your research project, independently, you will be exploring poverty in a radically different context—your own.
Main Task: Compare poverty in 1930s Europe, as depicted by Orwell, to poverty in the USA of the 21st century. What significant similarities or differences can you find between the two? Finally, interpret those similarities or differences: What does your comparative synthesis reveal about poverty or the societies in which it exists?
Purpose: This project requires sophisticated reading and synthesis skills—and you will be using them more independently as you conduct your own independent research. Ideally, you will also take away a couple of other important things. First, by delving into the issue of poverty, you may come to understand this deeply important phenomenon with more clarity and nuance. Secondly, it’s difficult to truly understand our own culture’s values and characteristics until we see how they compare and contrast to another culture’s. By analyzing how our culture’s response to poverty relates to poverty in another culture, you might begin to see, with a new clarity, our own values, biases, fears, and hopes.
Research: You will conduct independent research into poverty in our own time (in the United States or you home country if you prefer) to identify whether the experience of poverty has changed or whether some fundamental aspects of poverty have remained the same in these two very different times and places.
You should have at least THREE outside sources. Use MLA style citation, including a Works Cited page.
o Two of your sources must provide textual evidence.
o One of your text sources must be of substantial length, 3,000 words or more.
o A maximum of one of your sources can be selected from those I provide on the course website. (You have to find at
least two on your own.)
o Your third source can be any of the following: another text source, an interview you conduct on your own, a
nonfiction documentary film, or a podcast.
* Integrate at least six direct quotations, at least three from Down and Out and three from your research.
* If the sources don’t meet the above requirements→1 letter grade reduction.
* If the sources aren’t properly cited and documented, including a Works Cited page→1 letter grade reduction.
Focus: You can focus your comparison on one or both “types” of poverty depicted in Down and Out. o The working poor (depicted in roughly the first half of the book)
o Homelessness (depicted in roughly the second half of the book)
o Poverty in general (the whole book)
Also, determine what specific and significant aspects of poverty you will be comparing across the two historical contexts. Avoid a list of minor, unrelated differences or similarities. Consider comparing how both Down and Out and your research sources address one of the following questions.
o What causes poverty?
• What circumstances or choices lead to poverty?
o What are the results of poverty?
- How does it affect communities?
- How does it affect individuals’ lives and relationships?
o What are the solutions?
• What can individuals or institutions do to improve the lives of poor people?
Conclusion: As with your analysis, a lot of important critical thinking should happen in the conclusion. Respond to one of the questions below in the conclusion.
o If poverty is the same in the two contexts, WHY? Why has our much more advanced society failed to change the conditions of poverty that existed almost a century ago? Are there some aspects of poverty that will always exist? o If poverty is different in the two contexts, WHY? How do you account for the progress we’ve made? What in our
history, government, or culture has improved the circumstances of poverty or otherwise changed them?
o What can you tell about the values or ideologies of these two cultures based on how they respond to poverty?
Essay 3 Goals
In each of the major essays you write for English 1A, you will be working to demonstrate the skills we have practiced throughout the corresponding unit. Below are the writing and thinking skills you should be aiming to demonstrate in Essay Three. These goals will also be incorporated into the grading criteria for the essay.
1) Conduct independent research, evaluate sources, and effectively synthesize research sources with Down and Out.
2) Create an arguable thesis statement that provides a clear, compelling synthesis and previews the support for that synthesis.
3) Substantiate your thesis using analysis and supporting evidence.
4) Achieve a unified and focused statement with your essay—everything in the essay should work
together to support your central claim.
5) Incorporate an introduction that engages the reader and prepares the reader for the thesis.
6) Incorporate well-developed supporting paragraphs using the P.I.E. strategy.
7) Incorporate a conclusion paragraph that explores the significance of your synthesis.
8) Write clear and correct sentences while using diction and tone appropriate for the academic community.
9) Use MLA citation and documentation, including a “Works Cited” page.
10) Integrate, with rhetorical effectiveness, at least six quotations and paraphrases total from research
sources and Down and Out.
11) Be original, creative, and thoughtful, demonstrating the critical reading and thinking skills practiced throughout the unit.
Essay 3 Guide: Organizing Your Research Synthesis _
The main purpose of your essay is to explain important similarities or differences between poverty in the world of Down and Out and poverty in the contemporary society you research. However, you will be using your argument and analysis skills here as well—you will persuade your reader that your synthesis is valid through solid reasoning and evidence; you will interpret texts in order to determine what they imply about the experience of poverty. You will also be analyzing those connections, making inferences about what they mean.
Below are the basic pieces of the puzzle. Use this as a guide for how to craft your own research synthesis. However, if you decide to vary this structure in a way that improves the effectiveness of your essay, go for it.
Heading & Page Numbers: In the upper-left corner of the first page, list your name, your instructor’s name, the course, and the date. Also, you must number your pages. In MLA style, the writer’s name appears before the page number in the upper-right corner of each page.
Title: Include a title that captures your reader’s attention and previews the subject of your essay. (It should be centered, and the font size and type should be the same as all the other words on the page.)
I. Introduction (1-2 paragraphs, about 250-300 words): As with your previous essays, the primary purpose of the introduction is to engage your reader’s interest and prepare the reader for your thesis statement. In this essay, consider explaining why poverty is an important topic to investigate, and why looking at poverty from different cultural or historical vantages can provide us with a deeper understanding of it. Also, briefly introduce Down and Out as well as your research. If that seems like a lot to juggle in one paragraph, split it into two, an introduction and a bridge.
II. Thesis Statement (1-2 sentences, at the end of the introduction or bridge): The thesis should be specific and arguable, stating your main point and previewing your evidence in support of that point. It should meet all of the guidelines for successful thesis statements. Your thesis statement for your research paper should synthesize Orwell’s experience with the experience of poverty in 21st century America. It should both clearly state the similarity or difference you will be exploring in the following paragraphs and preview the evidence you will be using to demonstrate that synthesis. Avoid a comparison that simply states that poverty is difficult in both contexts. (This is too broad). Also, avoid comparing several minor, unrelated aspects of the two experiences.
III. Proof (4 paragraphs, about 750-1000 words): Each paragraph should assert and prove one specific point in support of your thesis statement, and stay focused on that point. Think of each body paragraph as one reason your thesis is true. As with all of your previous essays, I recommend using P.I.E. to structure your paragraphs. For example, your POINT might state a specific comparison that supports the broader comparison in your thesis. Your INFORMATION would then provide evidence from D&O and your research to support that comparison before EXPLAINING how your information proves your point.
However, you may find comparing both in a single paragraph to be unwieldy. In that case you might make a specific comparison over the course of two paragraphs, with one paragraph explaining an aspect of D&O and the next paragraph comparing a related aspect from your research.
IV. Conclusion (1 paragraph, about 300-350 words): Your conclusion may briefly review your main points for the reader. Most importantly, use the conclusion to communicate the significance of the distinctions or similarities you’ve explained. How do you account for the differences or similarities? If you see similarities, why would certain features of poverty remain the same in such different contexts? If you see important differences, where do they come from? Do they result from historical changes? Differences in the culture or values of the two contexts you’ve compared? Different social programs or economic circumstances?
In short, if these two experiences are similar, why are they similar? If they are different, why are they different?
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